Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Charlotte's Kenai Catering plans Easter Bunny Brunch
Want to meet the Easter Bunny in person? This will be the year to do it thanks to Steve and Bobbi England, owners of Charlotte's Kenai Catering. Kenai Catering will be offering a full Easter Brunch at the Kenai Merit Inn this Easter Sunday, April 4th. "We invite you to celebrate Easter with your family and friends, and bring your camera for pictures with the Easter Bunny," England told the Kenai Chamber of Commerce, "The buffet will feature Hickory Smoked Ham, Alaskan Seafood Strudel, Rosemary Pork Tenderloin, Garlic Herb Chicken Breast, and Peel & Eat shrimp, as well as traditional brunch fare such as cheese blintzes, scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, and sausage. There will also be fresh fruit, salads, and breakfast breads and fabulous freshly prepared desserts," added England. The Brunch will be open from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Kenai Merit Inn, 260 S Willow and reservations will be available in advance due to limited seating.

With support like this, a cure will be found
The organizing committee of this year's St. Baldrick's event in Soldotna would like to thank all of our participants and donors who so generously gave their time and treasure to support childhood cancer research. This year's event was our biggest ever and thanks to everyone who joined us we raised almost $40,000, far surpassing our goal of $30,000.

Nordic ski programs grateful for community support
Cross-country skiing is a very special sport that draws teams together in a competitive and cooperative way. Athletes are often cheering on all athletes, while being especially supportive of their own team. This spirit of cooperation has extended to our communities. There were many races held on the Tsalteshi Trails this winter and every one had volunteers from Kenai Central, Skyview, and Soldotna high schools as well as members of the community at large.

All Alaska Gas Line good for Peninsula
Homer Electric Assoc. recently announced an increase in rates of approximately 16 percent. I decided to look into what causes this. Mainly the increase is a "pass through" cost of fuel adjustment from Chugach Electrical Assoc. The proposed Independent Light Program that HEA proposes looks like a good way to give us better control of our costs. By installing the steam unit in Nikiski, we can get about 18 megawatts of power without using any more Natural Gas. The addition of turbines in Soldotna will add to our capacity enough that we will be independent of Chugach Electric, and not dependent on the ageing transmission line that ties us to them. This line is old and in need of up grades, so why not spend the money on turbines here in our own back yard.

'Moving forward' isn't progress
It is interesting to read Senator Begich's comments about the passage of health care as "moving forward," his catchall phrase for almost everything. We are to believe a "senator in training" who left his last job as mayor with such rose tinted financial views he negotiated sweet contracts for his union supporters but left a $20 million shortfall. For this "moving forward trainee" we pay $175,000 per year. He now will come home and try to tell us that a reduction in Medicare of five hundred billion dollars will be good for us. He discounts the fact that even without those cuts it is hard to find a doctor in Anchorage who accepts new Medicare patients. Politics he can do, adding and finance is beyond him. He can't see that most train wrecks occur while they are "moving forward."

Miracles to be discussed

School board to meet

Between the lines
Ryan Campos, left, a fifth-grader in Brittney Johnson's class at Mountain View Elementary in Kenai, answers questions about a story he read from a textbook while classmate Julianne Wilson reads from a chapter book on Tuesday.